Refrigerator-door-operating mechanism



April 2, 1929.

J. E. LINDEMAN REFRIGERA'I'QR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 15, "1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 2, 1929.

J. E. LINDEMAN REFRIGERATOR'DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM 2 Sheet s-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1926 12:95

oil

Patented Apr. 2, 1929.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. LINDEMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 'ASSIGNOR T0 W. H. MINER, INQ, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

3E1RIGERATOH-DOOR-UPEBATING MECHANISM;

Application filed February 15, 1926. Serial No. 88,195.

This invention relates to improvementsin refrigerator door operating mechanisms.

One object of the invention is to provide a door operating mechanism, especiall adapted for refrigerator cars, for forcing the doors when partly closed to tightly closed position, for holding the doors closed and for forcing the doors partly open. to facilitate the complete opening of theta-nae.

Another object of the invention to provide a mechanism of the character indie: ted, especially adapted for operati doors of the swinging type, including a rotary shaft provided with a pair of off-set members co-operatine' in sequence with keeper means to effect opening and closing moven'ients of the door. Eitill. another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the character indi- -,ated, including a rotary shaft adapted for rolling movement in guide means on the door, wherein. the shaft and guide means are provided with co-operating am ing elements to guide the shaft in its rolling movement to faciiitate iuter-engagement of tie co-operat ing engaging n'ieans on the shaft and keepers. Other objects and advantages of the inven tion will more fully and elem-1y appear from the description and claims hereinafter following. i

in the drawings, forming part of this S-l,)GCli'l(f-2Ltl01l, Fig ire 1 is a side, elevational view of a portion of a refrigerator car, show ing my improvements in coni'iectiontherewith. lfiigure 2 is an enlarged, vertical, sectioual view partly broken aw ay,corresponding substantially to the line 2-2 of Figure '1. Figure 3 an enlarged, horizontal, sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 33 of Figure 1, showing the position of the parts when the doors are in closed and locked position. Figures 4: and 5 are views siuiiiar to Figure 3, showing the parts in different positions. Figure (3 is an enlarged side elevational. view of the door operating; mechaism at the lower end of the door. And Figure 7 is a horizontal, sectional view t 'irough the lower end of the operating sha ftsho wing the gui ding cams in detail.

In said drawings, the car as shown is provided with a door frame 10 and two pivoted doors 11. and 12, havii'ig meeting beveled edges in the usual manner. As customary in. refrigerator cars, insulation or packing .Juployed between the meeting; edges of the doors themselves and around the sides and top. The doors 11 and 12 are mounted to swing about vertical axes, being pivotally supported on hinges 1313.

The improved door operating mcchaism comprises, broadly, an operating shaft A; end castings B-B; an operating handle C; upper and lower keepers D-D; and bearing brackets E, Eand F.

The operating shaft A in the form of a substantially fiat bar of rectangular cross section, having the handle or lever O pivoted thereto by a pin 1/ The castings B are securedto the top and bottom ends of the bar A, preferably by rivets 1515.

The two castings B are of similar design. Atthe inner end, each casting B is slotted as indicated at 16 to receive the corresponding end of the operating shaft or bar A, the rivets 15 extending through the end section of the casting and the bar. Adjacent the inner end section of the casting B, the same is provided with a cylindrical section 17 adapted to work in the corresponding bearing bracket E. At the outer end, each of the castings B is pro vided with two cylindrical members 1.8 and 19, offset with reference to the axis of the section 17 to provide engaging members eccentric to the axis of rotation of the operating shaft A. The cylindrical member 18 is offset with reference to the member 19 and functions as a trunnion with hearing means on the corresponding keeper D hereinafter more fully described. As most clearly shown in Figures 2 to 6, inclusive, the cylindrical. member 18 is cut away as indicated at 20 adjacent the outer end and on one side thereof for a purpose hereinafter set forth. Between the cylindrical section 17 and the two ofl'set members 18 and 19, each casting B is provided with a fin 21 and a lug 22, the fin and the lug being disposed on substantially diametrically opposite sides of the section 17 and in a common plane. The fin 21 functions as a cam element and has a substantially straigl'it section 23, two opposed curved sections 24: and 25 and a shoulder 26. ,The cam lug 22 has a curved outer surface 27 and flat end faces 28-28.

The upper and lower keepers D-D are of similar design, each keeper being in the form of a 0% sting and having a flat plate-lile base section by which the same is secured to the door frame, bolts extending through the section 29 and the door frame preferably being employed as securing elements. Each keeper D is provided with a guideway defined by webs 31 and 32. As shown, the web 32 is of less len 'th than the web 31 and. the 'uidewav 7. D 23 "30 is'flared'slightly outwardly and is inclined 7 B of't'he operating shaft.

, The bearing brckets E'are of similar design, one of thesame being secured to the door adjacentjthe bottom edge thereof and the other adjacent the top edge. Each of the bearingmembe'rs E comprises a strap section 136 provided with securing lugs 37-37 by .whlch the-strap is'fixed to the door, and a deta'chable 11181666011011 38. The plate section 38is provided with lips 39 at the opposite ends thereofse'at'edm suitable openings at the inner ends of the lug sections 37. Thestrap section 136 is offset outwardly with reference to the section 38 aslmost clearly shown in F i gu'res 3 to 6,inclusi've, of the drawiiigs, to provide a 'guideway therebetween extending parallel to the; plane of the door. On the curingdug-an'd the adjacent portion of the strap sec'tion136, each bracket E at the side nearest .the corresponding edge of the door is provided with pro ecting-portion which is cut.

'awayasindicated by 40 in Figures 3 to G, inclusive,thereby providing a stopshoulder 140 adapted to co-op'erate withthe lug 22 on the corresponding end casting B. Gn the same side, each bearing bracket E has an extension 1 1 -11 formed integral with the offset portion of of the shaft A isin the form of an ordinary the strap section 136 and provided with a curved outer wall presenting a curved interior bearingsurf'ace 42 adapted to co-operate with the cam face 25 ofthe fin 21 of the correspondingend casting B. The bracket F which is securedto, the door intermediate of the ends strap and has the oifset strap section thereof spaced a sufficient distance from the door proper topernnt of rotation of the rectangular shaft A. i

The lower keeper D 'as most clearly shown in Figure-l, is-provided with an extension projecting beyond the free edge of the door 11 when closed, having a latch member 43 pivoted thereto co-operating with a wear plate 44fixed tozthe adjacent lower corner of the door 12. I The door 12 isthe door first closed and thelatch43 serves to h'old this door in closed position when the door '11 is forced to tightly closed position. The operating handle C is adapted to be locked as shown in Fig ure 1, by any suitable latch device as indicated at 45 and sealed in any suitable manner, as for example, by the usual car seal.

The operation of my improved door operating mechanism is as follows, assuming the door is in closed position, and that it is desired to open the door 11- With the door in closed position, as most clearly illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the cylindrical members 19 are seated in the guideways 30 of the keepers, while the cylindrical sections 17 are disposed at the right hand end of the guide brackets E. The trunnion men'ibcrs 13 are disposed inwardly of the corresponding cylindrical members 19, and the flat end faces 23 of the fins 21 are in abutment with the outer surface of the door, thereby positively limiting the swinging movement of the shaft to the right as seen in Figure 1. Upon swinging the handle to the left, from the position illustrated in Figure l, the shaft A will be rotated on the cylindrical sections 17. Due to the members 19 being seated in the guideways 30 of the keepers, the trunnion members 18 will be swung about the axes of the members 1.), thereby forcing the door outwardly as the cylindrical sections 17 are guided parallel to the door in the brackets E. This action will continue until the parts assume substantially the position illustrated in Figure 1-, where upon the fins 21 will have been brought into engagement with the walls 42 on the guide brackets E and the trunnions 18 will have been swung into bearing relation to the concave bearing surfaces 36 of the keepers B. It will be evident that during the time that the parts are moved from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 4-, the trunnions 18 will be swung past the webs 31, the outer cut away sections 20 of the trunnions clearing the projections 35 and the cutaway portions 3 1M the webs 31 providing clearance for the cylindrical portions of the trunnions. lVhen the parts have assumed the position illustrated in Figure 4-, the mechaism is compelled to rotate about the axes of the trunnions 18 which are in bearing contact with the concave bearing surfaces 36 of the keepers D, thereby eflecting a swinging movement of the cylindrical men'ibers 1!) about the axes of the trunnions 1S and discnv gaging the same from the guideways 30 of the keepers. Vhen the cylindrical sections 19 have been swung a suflicicnt distance to clear the webs 31, so that the door may be pulled open directly by the operator, the parts will have assumed the position illustrated in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 5, the cylindrical sections 17 of the end castings B are at the left hand end of the guide brackets E E and the lugs 22 are in abutment with the shoulders 140 on the bearingbrackets, thereby preventing further rotation of the operating shaft A. As shown in Figure 5, the cam surfaces 25 of the fins 21 are also in substantial engagement with the curved walls 42 of the bearing brackets E.

To efl'ect closing of the door 11, the same is manually swung inwardly until the trunnions 18 are brought into engagement with the curved bearing surfaces 36 of the keepers D. The parts are now in position illustrated in Figure 5. The handle member C is then swung in a direction reverse to that while the door is being forced open, thereby rotating the shaft A and effecting rotation of the trunnions 18 about their axes. As the parts of the mechanism are rotated about the axes of the trunnions 18, the cylindrical members 19 will be swung into position within the guideways 80 of the keepers D until limited in their movement by engagement with the inner end. walls of the guideways. The parts will then have assumed the position shown in Figure 4. During the swinging movement of the members 19, just described, the cylindrical sections 17 of the end. castings B will be guided by engagement of the cam members 21 and 22 respectively with the walls 12 of the bearing brackets and the side walls of the cut out sections 40. When the memhers 19 have reached the position illustrated in Figure 4, upon further rotation of the shaft A, the parts of the mechanism will be compelled to swing about the axes of the members 19, thereby pulling the door to the tightly closed position illustrated in Figure During this movement last described,

the cam faces 25 of the fins 21 will pass out of contact with the bearing surfaces 42 as shown in Figure 4, and the fiat edges 23 of the fins will be brought into abutting relation with the door proper, thereby preventing further rotation of the shaft A. As the trunnion members 18 are swung from the position shown in Figure 4, to the position shown in Figure 3, they will clear the webs 31 in precisely the same manner as described in connection with the opening operation of the door. In this connection it is pointed out that the webs 31 and the trunnions 18 are each partly cut away to provide continuous cylindrical bearing surfaces on the trunnions 18 to co-operate with the concave surfaces 36 of the keepers D and at the same time have the webs 31. of sufficient length to assure the cylindrical members 19 of being properly guided into the guideways 30 of the keepers. When the door has been tightly closed as illustrated in Figure 8, the handle member 0 is in the position illustrated in Figure 1 and the locking means 45 may be swung into position and sealed with the usual car seal.

While I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the same is merely illustrative, and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim 1. In a door operating mechanism, the :ombination with a member provided with a door opening and a swinging door; of a keeper mounted on said member; a rotary shaft on said door, said shaft having an element eccentrieally disposedwith reference to the axis of said shaft and co-operable with the keeper to apply force to the door toe'lfect opening and closing movement of said door upon rotation of the shaft, said shaft also having means thereon engaging said keeper for effecting movement of said. element about said means as a center to guide the eccentric element into operative engagement with said keeper. V

2. I11 a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door frame having a door opening therein and a swinging door; of a keeper mounted on said element, having hearing means thereon; a rolling operating shaft mounted on said door, said shaft having eccentrically mounted members thereon cooperating with said keepers; one of said members cooperating with the keeper to force the door closed when the shaft is rotated in one direction and forcing the door open when the shaft is rotated in the oppo site direction, and the other of said members being engageable with the bearing means of the keeper and operating as a trunnion to guide said ilirst-named member into engagement with said keeper.

3. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door frame and a swinging door; of a rotatable shaft mounted on the door; guide means on the door cooperating with the shaft; a keeper mounted on the door frame, said keeper and shaft having cooperating means thereon for forcing the door closed when the Sl'lfiffb is rotated in one direction and to force the door open when the shaft is rotated in the reverse direction; and co-qnerating cam means on said shaft and guide means to bring about predetermined rolling movement of the shaft when the same is rotated.

i. In a door operating mechanism, the combination. with a doorframe and swinging doors; of a shaft mounted for rolling movement on one of said doors, said shaft having an operating member and a pivot member at each end thereof; keepers mounted on the door frame, each of said keepers having guide means thereon co-operating with the corresponding operating member to effect operation of said door upon rotation of the shaft, each of said keepers also having bearing means thereon cooperating with the pivot member at the same end of the shaft to swing the operating member about the axis of the pivot member to guide said operating member into engagement with the guide means of the keeper.

5. In a door operating mechanism, the

combination with a door frame and a swingmgdoor; of a rotary shaft mounted on said door, provided with an eccentric member; a

- keeper mounted on the frame, said keeper having guide means co-operating with said member to effect opening and closing'movement of the door-when the shaft is rotated, said keeper alsojhaving an element thereon affording a bearing for said shaft to swing said membereabout a fixed axis to facilltate engagement of said member with the guide means of the keeper.

6. In a door operatingmechanism, the combination with a door frame and a swinging door; of a keeper on said frame, said keeper having a guide slot and a cylindrical bearing surface thereon; and a rolling shaft.sup-

ported on the door, said'shaft having an ecface to effect swinging movement of said lug about theavis ofthe runnion to guide the lug into engagement with the slot of the keeper.

,7. In a door operating mechanism, the

combination with'a member having a door opening and a pivoted door; of an operating shaft rotatably mounted on said door; means for effecting bodily displacement of said shaft in a direction substantially parallel to the face 'of said door during rotational movement thereof; a keeper provided with a plurality of faces secured to saldmember; and independent actuating portions movable with said shaft and successively engageable with combination with a frame member having a the faces of said keeper during rotational.

movement and bodily displacement of said shaft to effect movement of said door in opening and closing directions.

8. In a door operating mechanism, the

door opening and apivoted door, of an operating shaft rotatably mounted on said door; means cooperating with said shaft and door for effecting bodily displacement of said shaft during its rotation, said means comprising cam elements connected with the door and shaft whereby rotation of said shaft causes coaction of said cam elements to bodily move said shaft; and keeper means mounted on said door frame and co-operating with said shaft to effect movement of said door in opening and closing directions during the rotary movement and bodily displacen'ient of said shaft.

9. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door; of elongated guide means mounted on said door and adapted to cooperate with said shaft; and cam elements on said guide means and said shaft cooperating when said shaft is rotated to effect bodily translation of said shaft with reference to the face of the door.

10. A casting for a door opera ting mechanism including a shaft and keeper means, said casting comprising means for attaching the same to said shaft in axial alinenient therewith, a pair of spaced actuating members engageable with said keepers and each offset with respect to the axis of said attaching means.

11. A keeper adapted, for cooperation with an operating shaft of a door operating mechanism, said keeper being adapted to be secured to the frame of a door, and being provided with a plurality of independent, spaced bearing portions arranged in pred etermined order to permit successive engagement by independent members of a door operating mechanism.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of February, 1926.

JAMES E. LINDEMAN. 

